Posts

Blue Aster Lake and Warrior Rocky Mountain Peak, Kananaskis Country

Defend Our Parks

By Susan / 17 November 2020

BY RICHARD SCHNEIDER

Albertans want more of our natural heritage protected, not less.

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Big brown bat

Bat House Monitoring at Ellis Bird Farm

By Susan / 15 October 2020

BY SHAYE HILL, MYRNA PEARMAN, CLAUDIA LIPSKI, AND NATALIA LIFSHITZ

Bats are fascinating creatures, playing a critical role in supporting biodiversity.

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Gail Michener with a rotund ground squirrel.

Underground Life

By Susan / 16 August 2020

BY GAIL MICHENER

Richardson’s ground squirrels are regularly seen above ground during daylight hours for seven to eight months of the year, but rarely from late October through late February, generating the perception that they hibernate for a four-month period encompassing winter. Winter does not last that long, so what accounts for such extraordinarily long hibernation seasons?

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Rabbits and Hares

By Susan / 16 August 2020

BY MYRNA PEARMAN

It has been my good fortune to have spent, over the past few years, some quality time in the company of each of Alberta’s three native “bunny” species. All three species — which include two hares and one rabbit — have adapted well to human habitation, taking up residence in farmyards, towns, and cities across the province.

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Alberta’s Bull Trout Need Our Respect — and Our Help

By Susan / 16 August 2020

BY JENNIFER EARLE

Bull trout seem to be the Rodney Dangerfield of fish — they get no respect. They are the official provincial fish of Alberta, yet this distinction hasn’t served them particularly well. They are listed as Threatened under both provincial and federal legislation. So how did we get here?

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Fisher in a tree.

A Story of Mammals in Alberta’s Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve

By Susan / 15 January 2020

BY FRANCES STEWART

I was walking through an aspen forest in the UNESCO Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve (BHB), 50 km east of Edmonton and south of Elk Island National Park. The first rays of sunlight were peeking through the trees and shining off the fresh snow on this crisp January morning. It was silent, still. I could see my breath shimmering in front of me like the beautiful hoar frost on the surrounding branches. A perfect morning for live-trapping fisher.

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Bohemian Waxwings

By Susan / 15 January 2020

BY MYRNA PEARMAN

It is always a treat when a winter flock of Bohemian Waxwings suddenly descends on the cotoneaster bushes in our yard. No matter the weather, their constant trilling fills the air and they devour the berries with great flourish. Although always in constant motion, they usually allow close approach – a photographer’s delight!

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